Ruidoso Calendar

Update: Pedestrian killed on Highway 70 identified

New Mexico State Police have identified the pedestrian killed Dec. 27 along U.S. Highway 70 east of Ruidoso Downs.

NMSP confirmed that the victim was Robert Dutchover, 45. He died after being struck by two or three different vehicles.

The fatality was the second incident where a pedestrian died after being struck in the same stretch of roadway in the Glencoe area in the past five weeks.

Police were notified of the fatality about 6 a.m. on Dec. 27. The victim was found in the outside lane of the westbound divided highway.

Archuleta, who responded to the location, said the investigation is trying to determine if the victim might have been intoxicated.

"He ended up in the road and was struck by a vehicle but we don't believe that vehicle stopped," Archuleta said Monday. "We have no witnesses. We have another vehicle that struck the victim in the roadway that stopped. The second vehicle that did stop, we do not think that was the initial vehicle."

Archuleta said the man was hit by at least two vehicles. With darkness before 6 a.m., Archuleta said it could be possible that the first driver knew he struck something but did not know what was hit.

The incident is still under investigation.

On Nov. 24, a Glencoe man, Royce "Lucky" Dunlap, 66, was killed after he had stopped his vehicle in the highway's median and walked into the roadway in an effort to remove a Christmas tree from the pavement. The November victim was pronounced dead after being transported to the hospital in Ruidoso.